Vrolliurial.
lord Stanley met his constituents at King's Lynn on Wednesday. They seem very proud of their aspiring young Member, and they gave him three times three at the close of the proceedings. The topics of his .suldress were various ; they looked more to our future than the past, and _generally pointed to action. Taking his start from reflections on the sa- tisfactory treaty of Paris, and stating reasons that led him to hope for a continuance of peace, he said that our future course in foreign policy is plain : cases like that of Italy demand remonstrance from foreign cowl- :tries—we are bound to protect a faithful ally.like Sardinia; but as a ge- neral rule, there must not be much interference in the affairs of foreign countries. He objected to two taxes—the insurance-duty and the paper- duty : they might be remitted, even at the expense of a higher income- tax than would otherwise be necessary.
Parliamentary reform must necessarily be deferred. He believed a very general apathy prevailed respecting it : but he would say, that either the thing ought not to be done, or it ought to be done effectually ; no small mea- sure could or ought to pass, and no Government ought to take up that sub- ject unless they determined to stand or fall by it. It was intolerable that a Minister should be enabled to keep an agitation hanging over the country merely because his party was dissatisfied and he wished to content them. On Education he was less sanguine than heretofore,- but there is no perms- -neat cause for discouragement. The great practical subjects are " Army re- form, Administrative reform, and the amendment of the Law." We must not maintain a large force, but a nucleus—the Militia—round .which a _great army may be formed. We must develop the scientific branch of the Army, and make it a "working. profession." We must get rid of the purchase system. The Commons have the right to settle the great principles of-military administration. As to Administrative reform, he supported the competitive plan, as the best on the whole, because it excludes absolute inefficiency, favouritism, or suspicion of favouritism, and opens a .career to all. In Law reform, he pointed out the necessity of abolishing,the Ecclesiastical Courts; of giving greater facilities for the transfer of Sanded property. ; of amending the law of marriage and divorce; and of ap- 'pointing a Minister of Justice. At the close, he disclaimed party names and ties. He would not use party names, because, at the present time, they had little meaning ; but he would say, not as a paradox, but as a truth, that in England there is much which all must wish to see altered, much which all must wish to see retained ; and in England, therefore, no man could be a Reformer who was not in some sense a Conservative, and no man could be aurae Conservative who was not in some sense a Reformer.
Lord John Russell lectured on Wednesday at the Stroud Mutual Im- provement Society, on " the Study of History."
The Secretery of the Staffordshire "Anglo-French Free-trade Asso- ciation" has received the following bit of "hopeful" intelligence, in a letter dated the 3d instant, from Mr. John Macgregor, who seems to have been acting as a sort of agent for the Association in Paris.
" I have been here a week. I have had a long interview with the Em- _vier on the subjett of freedom of trade ; also with the First Minister of itstate, and the Minister of Commerce,—all favourable - and important mea- sures will soon be taken. Yesterday, tee settkd that all prohibitions should be abolished. Nevertheless, persevere, and we will succeed." (This is somewhat hastily written, and the last sentence is unin- telligible. All prohibitions are to be abolished, " nevertheless," perse- vere, &c. would seem to indicate that Mr. Macgregor's business was to _prevent the abolition of " prohibitions."] Birmingham has a vested interest in Michael Costa, the great director of music. When the ingenious Italian first came to England, twenty-six Sears ago, Birmingham for a time was his place of residence, and there he experienced a fostering patronage which helped him to his present posi- tion. Nor has Mr. Costa proved ungrateful. At the last Birmingham Festival he produced to the world his oratorio of Eli, acting also as con- ductor: the large sum given to him in recompense of his labours he generously presented to the funds of the charity in aid of which the tri- ennial musical festivals are held—the General Hospital. To mark their sense of his conduct, 4*. gentlemen connected with the festivals have just presented Mr. Coda with a testimonial, representing, in silver re- - lieved with gold; 'the presentation of the infant Samuel to Eli in the Temple. On a silver plate at the back is engraved-
" To Michael Costa, in commemoration of the first performance, on the 29th of August 1855, of Eli, an oratorio generously composed by him for the Birmingham Musical Festival, in aid of the funds of the General Hos- pital, as a tribute to his genius, and as a record of his disinterested libe- rality, this testimonial is presented by noblemen and gentlemen of the Com- mittee of Management."
The presentation took place in a committee TOM of the Town-hall on Monday. Mr. Costa acknowledged the distinguished honour with much emotion.
At the hirings of yearly agricultural servants in Lincolnshire, wages both for men and women have been if anything in advance of last year.
Hotels unsafe. A robbery similar to those for which three Americans are now in custody has been effected at the Turk's Head Hotel, Newcastle. A stranger arrived in the evening, and departed early in the morning. At a later hour, two gentlemen discovered that money had been stolen from their bedrooms : they had locked the doors at eight, and the doors were still locked when the gentlemen arose in the morning ; a third door bad been tried, but the occupant of the room had both locked and bolted it, and the bolt had foiled the thief.
William Towton, a drummer in the South Devon Militia, has killed John Tozer, another drummer, in a barrack-reem at Plymouth, by striking him with his fist under the ear.
The Church has lately been much scandalized by the doings of a mis- creant in holy orders in the neighbourhood of Brighton. He was lately called to the deathbed of an aged gentleman, and took advantage of the con- fidence reposed in his holy office to seduce the gentleman's daughter. What renders the affair more disgraceful are the circumstances that the deceased had presented this viper with his living—his " cure of souls," and that he is the father of a family of grown-up daughters. He has been compelled to leave his parish, and recently all his effects were sold by auction.—Brighton Guardian.
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